With such a photo heavy post on the first half of the day, I figured it would be best to give your page loading time a break and divide the day into two.

Wexford Strawberries from the side of the road

We got our first real taste of the Irish Countryside today, and by taste I of course mean delicious Wexford strawberries. And they're as delicious as they look. Where you're average American strawberry has a hollow center, these are all flavor, sold in adorable little cartons out of adorable little stands parked right on the shoulder of the road - luckily, picking them up doesn't involve braving the weather, you can just pull right up to the stand and open up the window. Watch out for worms though... these are organic and you may be up for a protein packed surprise. Don't worry though... they're totally worth it and if you have any sense you'll trade it out with someone in the car for their slightly smaller, but wormless strawberry, and no one's really the worse for wear.

Irish countryside near the Wicklow Mountains

Along with our Wexford strawberries we had a steady accompaniment of rain, my well prepared Irish playlist, and a photographer-frustrating sky of constant almost undifferentiated grey... but hey, I suppose you've got to keep it all that green somehow.

Onto more important things though, traveling on our way around the country and away from Powerscourt Gardens, we've found our way to Glendalough, an ancient monastic village in County Wicklow which you can see in the first picture of day 3.5, and of course in quite a few pictures to come.

Glendalough Monastic Village, Ireland

Round Tower at the Glendalough Monastic Village, Ireland

The gravestones there at Glendalough range for stone hundreds of years old that can barely be read to stones a couple dozen years old that you can still barely read thanks to the constant weathering in Ireland - which is quite talented at making everything look old and important. Not a single stone stands straight simply because of all of the moisture in the ground that leaves it mushy and soggy (much like my shoes have become). The centerpiece though, of the Glendalough Monastic Village is the giant, still intact round tower that rises from the center. Barely noticeable at the bottom of it is a door about 4 stories off the ground. Incredibly inconvenient, you may think, but don't tell the tour guide we had 4 years ago at the site that, because according to her that one tower can be credited with pretty much saving history as we know it, because they were able to toss all their books up there whenever the vikings raided them and tried to burn the place down. We think she may have exaggerated that just a bit.

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The adventures and images of photographer, Noelle Wells. Noelle is available for shoots including Family, Engagement & Senior Portraits, Boudoir, Weddings & Events, and Acting & Business Headshots throughout the Phoenix Metro area, Tucson, and Northern Arizona. To book a shoot, please contact me at 520.840.0754 or nowells.photography@yahoo.com